Panda Compact 1.51 Cu. Ft Portable Dryer

We live in an apartment. Once they raised the rates for both wash & dry that’s when I decided to purchase our own washer and dryer.
We bought the Panda Dryer 3.5 cu. It’s a good dryer, works well and very pleased with it.
We first bought a Giantex Washing Machine which washes small loads on one side, spin dries on the other side. After spin, clothes are almost dry. Love that I no longer have to lug everything down to the basement and can do laundry anytime I want.

Five Month Update: The dryer is still working well after five months. When I have a small amount of laundry to do I use my twin tub washer and the Panda dryer and they get the job done. I still use the wool dryer balls and my clothes come out of the dryer soft and clean. It’s a lot harder to wash and dry a larger amount of clothes with these smaller units so I use it maybe twice a month. I tried doing a weeks worth of winter clothes (long sleeve shirts, pants, hoodies, etc.) for two people and bedding with the portable units but it took me most of the day to get everything washed and dried. Each load takes between 90 and 120 minutes (or more) to dry depending on the thickness of the clothes and the amount.

——————————————————-
I purchased the Panda 3 weeks ago and so far it’s doing a great job. It arrived within 5 business days undamaged with everything it needed to function. I am on the top floor of my apartment building so I have been propping the duct vent on a windowsill with the window open (screen on) in order to vent the hot air outside. This has worked very well so far and my apartment hasn’t raised in temperature due to this set up. The machine is very quiet and my neighbors cannot hear it working even with the window open. I no longer have to plan several hours of sitting at a laundry mat every week or spend upwards of $30 a month to wash my clothing!
It took approximately 10 minutes to set up (I didn’t mount it on a wall) but I have it on a wooden dolly because its a bit heavy and hard for me to move around. I typically keep my Panda in my closet so that it’s out of the way but it isn’t very big. I can dry my thin queen-sized quilt in about 180 minutes on high heat with this dryer, although I have to stop it in the middle to clean out the lint trap. The most I have put in this dryer at one time is six yoga pants, four adult t-shirts, 5 pairs of underwear, a hoodie, and 4 pairs of socks (it took approximately an hour and high heat).
I use the Panda with a twin tub portable washer/spinner. The spinner gets the clothing 80% dry so this definitely reduces the amount of time the clothing will be in the dryer. The only thing that I don’t like about this particular dryer is that the dials are on the bottom of the machine. Since I have it sitting 5 inches off the floor on a dolly for now, I have to sit on the floor or squat down to use it. If you are a one to two person household, this is perfect for you! I can typically get a weeks worth of clothing, bedding, and towels for two people washed and dried in about 3.5 hours with my portable tub and dryer. It takes some getting use to but once you have a routine that works for you it goes by a lot more quickly.

Suggestions:
-Purchase extra exhaust filters and change it once a month.
-Purchase a metal duct vent. The one that comes with it is a flimsy plastic. I was afraid it would start to melt after several weeks of use. **Use the venting elbow that comes with the dryer because the Panda is smaller than a regular sized dryer.
-Purchase wool dryer balls to dry faster and to prevent the materials from rolling into a ball and coming out wrinkled.
-In order to prevent overheating, switch the settings to air dry for the last 10-20 minutes of the dry time. The hot air will still be inside drying the clothing but the machine will be ready for another load right away!
-Clean the lint trap and the exhaust filter after every use! This is especially important if you have animals. I use a lint roller on the exhaust filter to get it as clean as possible.
-Do not overload the dryer! It will take a lot longer to dry your items if the Panda cannot spin freely. I recommend that you locate the center of the lint filter and do not go higher than that point (it’s about half of the drum). If your dryer starts to make an odd sound, like it is struggling, take out some clothing and try again.

Short version: does a good job drying clothes. Drying at 120volts takes a while so be patient. CLEAN the lint filters regularly!

Longer version: I bought this dryer because I bought an OLD farmhouse in the country and it doesn’t have 240volt outlets. I wanted a little dryer because hanging out clothes to dry doesn’t work well in the winter. I watched a LOT of YT videos on different brands and this one (the larger option) looked sturdy and not too difficult to clean. It came with a vent hose, mounting kit, and feels quite sturdy.

In operation it does very good job. The wiring in this house is pretty old and this dryer does NOT stress the electricity. UNDERSTAND that it will take LONGER to dry clothes! For us a regular load takes 90 minutes to a full 2 hours. Be patient and DO NOT OVERLOAD the dryer and it’s great

CLEAN THOSE FILTERS! The dryer has a pull-off/press-on lint filter that you NEED to clean each use. There are a few other filters in there that need weekly/monthly cleaning. If you don’t clean these you will be disappointed with your dryer! It will stop working if you let it get clogged.

I invested in a cheap hand vacuum and once a month I do a deep vacuum of the filters. It takes about 10 minutes and I feel like it will greatly lengthen the dryer’s lifespan.

I recommend getting a set of replacement filters. It’s been 2 months and I am still using the original filters, but I have noticed that they are getting thinner. I think I will put new filters in next time I remove them for vacuuming. I bought a combination pack of all of the filters for the dryer and I probably won’t need to buy more for a couple of years. They’re pretty cheap when you get a good amount in a combo pack.

There were several sizes offered for the Panda brand. I recommend getting the bigger option offered for this dryer. There’s just 3 of us in this house so our washing loads aren’t very large to begin with and this dryer will fit what we normally wash.

The included vent hose is narrow. Probably 3ish inches wide. This is great if you’re just running to a window or if you have a small vent. I went ahead and got a 4-inch wide vent hose and it clamped down easily and it fits the vent pipe in the house. For me it was a good investment. I think the wider hose helps the drying time because it lets the air vent easier.

Amazing and efficient. I was pleasantly surprised at how well it works for being compact. It is light weight and can fit just about anywhere. Absolutely love it.